


not even the gods above (can separate the two of us)

by Clamat_Submissa



Series: the tragic story of a muse and a war god [1]
Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, One Direction (Band)
Genre: 69 (Sex Position), Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Basically it is an excuse for me to nerd out on my Greek Myth knowledge, Fluff, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, Riding, Rimming, Smut, Strangers to Lovers, Violence, extremely minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 22:01:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5643445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clamat_Submissa/pseuds/Clamat_Submissa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is a reckless god of war, Louis is a muse unspoken of, and their love might not be written in the stars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	not even the gods above (can separate the two of us)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sowearegay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sowearegay/gifts), [Dick](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dick/gifts).



> hiii hellooo!! so i wrote the sequel to this fic like six months ago ???? and i posted it before this ????? anyway
> 
> if you havent read the other one, read this one first!! it'll be cooler. but if you wanna read the second one first it's still cool; in fact it could be cooler ??? idk life
> 
> anyway!! i worked /extremely/ hard on this, it is BY FAR the best thing i've written imo, so i really hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> dedicated to the lovely [Kassie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/sowearegay/pseuds/sowearegaycom/) and the lovely [Alex](http://heisbuzzing.tumblr.com/) because both helped me so much in the process of writing this fic (Kassie with her previous comments, Alex by being my cheerleader AND my awesome and lovely Beta) ♥
> 
> P.S: TO ANYONE WHO ALREADY READ THE SEQUEL - I MADE A CHANGE! Zeus is no longer Liam but actually Simon! Liam is Poseidon!
> 
> all the love ♥

Their first encounter is worthy of a myth.

-

Harry's at his usual space in the ocean, one he goes to during the afternoons to relax and during the nights to find a beautiful water nymph that could wash away his sorrows.

Being the reckless God of War takes a toll on him, if he's honest; his sorrows are so deep, if materialized in water form it'd be a larger body of water than the pacific. He needs to destress, and it just so happens that his de-stressing takes form in sexual pleasures carried out mostly with water nymphs - not that that's wrong in any way whatsoever, but given the 'recent' rule that Zeus established for the Gods it should be worrying. But it's not; it seems he's not only reckless when it comes to war.

It's the afternoon, so he's come to relax. He was called in to another war - as usual - and his worshippers lost to Athena's worshippers - as usual - so his shrine got trashed. This one is entirely his fault, though; his coordination and strategizing was worse than it normally was, and it didn't help that he was actually _late_ to the war; Phobos and Deimos were already there, but they were affecting indiscriminately. Athena's troops had already a huge advantage over Harry's, and once his eyes set on the blood and the killing he went on a spree. His stupidity cost around 600 lives of his troops; of those 600, the blood of 487 was on his hands. It doesn't really _matter_ much, lives of humans; but Zayn fucking tired him out by summoning him to the Underworld and insulting him for ten days straight (" _You know what happens when so many people die at the same time, Harry? The fucking canal gets stuck, and the Underworld gets fucking unstable. And who has to deal with all of that? Hades. And who's Hades? It's fucking me, Harry, I have to deal with the consequences of your stupidity.", "Z, I know you're mad, but it's not like I intended them to die.", "Niall is going to be so pissed off at the amount of time I have to spend on this.")_

Harry emerges his head from the water to take a deep breath. He can feel one of the water nymphs he usually calls pull at his leg. He shakes her off softly, too tired to even try to reason with her that _it's the afternoon, and during the afternoons he doesn't want sex. Usually_. However, shaking her off doesn't seem to have effective results, so he tries to swim to another area. She follows him, along with two other water nymphs he's contacted more than twice. He's too tired to deal with this properly. "Damn, these nymphs are crazy," he mutters to himself.

"You could say they're nymphomaniacs, huh."

Harry laughs loudly at that and shakes his hair. "Good word play," he looks up and sees the most beautiful being he's ever had the opportunity to gaze at, floating mindlessly in the air. He's wearing a beautiful orange and peach silk tunic with a sash wrapped around the middle, enhancing his curves. His feet are adorned with gold sandals, and his upper arms have thin strips of gold wrapped around them. Most importantly, his beautiful, feathery hair is adorned with a beautiful golden and bejeweled crown piece. Harry's breathless. "Wow."

He giggles and smile. "I'm Calliope, though you can call me Louis."

"I'm-"

"I know who you are, of course," Louis cuts him off, "And I have to say, I'm not impressed."

"Not impressed?" At that Harry gets out of the water and looks directly at him. "What the fuck do you mean?"

"I mean, every time you fight, especially with your sister, you always lose. It's humiliating."

"Am I detecting a hint of sexism from the God who can turn into a Goddess and vice-versa?"

"Her being a girl isn't what makes it humiliating," Louis corrects disdainfully, "It's her being your sibling that does."

"Fuck you."

"You wish."

Harry tries to contain his laugh at that, he really does, but he isn't successful. "What are you even doing here, Muse? This is a secret place; I've been assured by Akheilos."

"Well, if you didn't know before, Akheilos is a bloody liar," Louis smirks. "Did you even talk to Ceto before jumping in, unwarranted? Aren't you afraid of Aegaeon and his storm waves?"

"Akhelios is my friend."

"He's a fucking shark-shaped spirit, Harry. He's a fiend."

"Anyway," Harry interrupts with a smile, "I am Ares, God of War. I fear nothing and no one," Harry smirks at Louis's scoff and continues, "Besides, I might or might not be good friends with Galene. And Poseidon, for that matter."

" _You_? Friends of Poseidon?" Louis's eyes widen, "Is it because of your hatred for Athena? Is this one of those 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' kind of thing?"

"Not at all," Harry brags but shrugs at the stare Louis gives him, "Well, kind of. Liam and I go way back, he helps me get out of sticky situations."

Louis looks at him strangely. "I see."

"How do _you_ know him?"

He looks at Harry and smirks, arching his right eyebrow wistfully. "I believe I know Liam in a _much_ different context in which, I imagine, it is much more appropriate to use the phrase 'sticky situation', if you understand."

Harry chokes on air. "Y-You and _Liam_ ? The God of the Sea and a _Muse_?"

"It wouldn't be the first nor the last time any one of you Pantheon Gods and Goddesses had affairs with my 'lower kind,' you know," Louis says so spitefully, angered at the supposition that he was of a lower class. Then, he looks Harry up and down, and smirks at his very evident boner. "'Sides, it's not like you, the God of War, aren't interested in having affairs with a Muse right now."

Harry's face hardens and he tries to keep it like that, but one look at Louis's smile breaks him and he's laughing hard. Louis accompanies him and chuckles softly, adorably, and it drives Harry crazy. "Didn't know Muses could contain that much spite."

"What can I say?" Louis lowers himself onto the ground and walks towards Harry. Now their height difference was much more obvious, Louis's beauty is much more obvious, with his eyes the color of the sea, lined with gold, and his lips rose. Harry feels like he's drowning again, only this time it's on the color of Louis's eyes. "You… inspire me."

"Inspire you?"

"Yes," Louis smiles sweetly and with a sly look at Harry's bulge once more, he adds "just like I inspired you, huh." Harry has the audacity to blush and sheepishly look at the floor, no remnants of the cocky God that stood there before. Louis's presence is intimidating, and arousing. _So_ arousing. Louis laughs. "Would you like to do something about it?

For the first time in his existence, Harry's actually nervous. The thing is, he shouldn't be so surprised at how blunt and direct Louis is being; _they're gods_ , after all. Gods and Goddesses have so much time that they don't waste time with anything, if that even makes sense. For them, there's no urge to cherish things and people because, chances are, they'll always be there. And most have no time for morals or scruples; they're already extremely incestuous as it is - and that's okay. To them, at least, it's okay. It's okay to have sex with whomever, whenever - well, there were _certain rules_ that they had to pertain, some rules that he might be considering breaking in his mind. "I-I, uh, that wasn't what I-"

Louis blinks twice and straightens up. "Are you saying that we will not be doing anything about it?"

"I didn't say that, I mean, maybe later?" Harry asks, "Right now I'd quite like to take you out. On a date."

"Proper mundane, don't you think?"

Harry smiles. "Proper romantic, I think."

Louis tilts his head and nods. "Alright, big boy," he locks his arm around Harry's, and then looks at him and winks. "Show me what you got."

+

It's around the late 400 - early 300 BCE, and they're at the Agora of Athens. Louis's definitely confused for Harry's choice of a place to "date" but decides not to question it.

"Love, what are we doing in the Agora?" _Tried to_.

"We're buying the food necessary, and then I will cook for you."

"What are you searching for?" Louis questions once more, this time tugging at his hand. "I'll help."

"I'm thinking of making _tagenias_ ," Harry smiles at the excitement in Louis's eyes, "Therefore, I need wheat flour, olive oil, honey and curdled milk."

"Okay," Louis nods and looks around the marketplace. He's been in this particular Agora plenty times to know more or less where everything's situated, so he tugs at Harry's hand once more and points towards a stand in the far right corner. "Over there should be the wheat flour and curdled milk, while over there" Louis points to the center, "If I'm not mistaken, that's where I can find the olive oil and honey."

"Split up?"

"Got it."

They each go on their separate ways, off to find the necessary ingredients. The guys who's manning the stand Louis goes to leers at him, looking him up and down as if he's one of the pieces of meat being sold. Louis doesn't pay too much notice; it's not the first time something like this happens, but he's not a god for nothing. He can hold his own.

Once he grabs the olive oil and honey from the center and thrusts it at him. "How much?"

The man's attractive, that's for sure, but his physique is not at all comparable to that of Harry's. So Louis really doesn't notice. He manages to maintain his face unreadable until it changes to a scowl with the dirty grin of the man. "Just you on your knees for me, _pórni_."

Louis gasps and his eyes widen in rage. He slams the ingredients on the table and glares at that man. " _What did you just call me_?"

"You heard me," the man now grabs Louis and - okay, he's a little bit stronger than Louis supposed. He can still overpower him, though, but he decides not to because they've drawn in a crowd. The man leans down to whisper in his ear, "The way you're dressed, it's obvious you're a gem. How much for a night? I'm sure a _pórni_ like you doesn't demand much."

Louis draws back in disgust but can't manage to get out of his grip smoothly. "Unhand me now or face the consequences."

"Consequences? What's a pretty little thing like _you_ going to-" He's interrupted by the horrible sound of the _crack_ that followed Harry's punch. The strength and power behind the punch was too much, and the man fell backwards, dragging Louis with him. Harry's quick, though, and he catches Louis by the waist to prevent him from smashing unto the rocks, like the other man did.

"Y'kay?" Harry whispers, looking at Louis's face for a sign to say otherwise.

"I'm good, Haz," Louis's smiling and blushing like an idiot. He could have gotten out of it, but it's sweet to see that Harry defended him too. "Thank you."

"No problem," He replies and places Louis besides him. Louis turns around, thinking that they're going to go now but he stops when he hears grunts of pain from behind him.

Turns out, Harry didn't want to walk away and instead decided to smash the guy's face in. Lovely.

Harry's kneeling down, landing blow after blow of the man's face, quickly and powerfully. He's holding back - if he didn't, the man would already be dead - but Louis can see him slowly losing control and, _fuck_ , he doesn't know what Harry's capable of doing if he's full-blown Ares.

"Harry, stop!" It does nothing, so he grabs his arm to try and stop the punches, but he's instead moved along with it. "Harry, please, just stop it! You've already proved your point! Just stop!"

Not phased in the slightest, Harry keeps plummeting the no-longer conscious guy and looks at Louis, directly. His eyes are enraged, and his whole stance is protective. "He fucking touched you, Lou."

"And you already punched him for it, no need to kill the man!" Louis's still holding his arm and can feel him slowing down, just a little bit. "For gods' sake, Harry! Not everything has to end in bloodshed!"

And those words are what definitely stop Harry's movements. He's standing up and as he does so, the crowd disperses, no longer entertained. He approaches Louis carefully and steady, his gaze setting unto the beautiful Muse that did the impossible. While his steps get nearer and nearer, Louis tries not to let his slight fear show. He'd like to think that, with the few and short encounters they've had, he can tell that Harry's harmless - at least to him. But the matter of fact is, Harry was close to losing touch to his persona and converting fully into Ares, and Louis doesn't know if he's managed to subdue the God of War inside of him.

If he hasn't, then the bloodthirsty God of War is approaching the person who stopped him from slaying somebody. If so, then, according to the myths, the Slayer will prove himself worthy of said title on him.

However, that's not what happens.

"You stopped me," Harry envelops Louis's hands with his own and brings them to his chest. He lightly kisses the knuckles and smiles, "Nobody's ever done that. You're incredible. The humans should build shrines for you. I don't understand why there isn't so much more written about you."

"It's only logical that there isn't much written about me," Louis sighs, his voice turning melancholic, "I'm just a Muse."

"You're not _just_ anything."

Louis smiles and Harry starts wondering whether he's actually a Muse and not the Sun God, for the shine and brightness that his smile radiates could only be rivaled by the sun - and even then, the sun would lose.

_

They return to the Agora in Athens a few human months after the incident. They're sitting around the center, where the militia and the insane make announcements. Harry does end up making the _tagenias_ , and it's probably the best thing Louis's ever tasted.

"Oh my _Gods_ , Hazza," Louis looks up at him in delight, and something akin to butterflies flutter in the pit of Harry's stomach, "This is absolutely amazing. It's been long since I've had something this pleasant in my stomach. Thank you."

"Of course, my love," Harry tries not to stare at Louis's hollowed cheeks as the Muse takes a sip from his drink, "What do you usually eat?"

Louis gulps and licks his lips to answer, acts that distract Harry to the point that he almost doesn't pay attention to what he says, "Well, I have ambrosias always at my disposal. It's kind of my ability? So, I'm usually just eating that."

"That's unfortunate, boo," Harry pouts while Louis giggles, "Now you have me to prepare all kinds of delicious delicacies for you."

"I am glad I do," Louis says with a smile.

"So, what is Calliope about, really?" Harry blushes and looks sheepish at the hard stare from Louis, "I'm sorry! Like I said, there isn't much said or written about you! How am I supposed to know all about you?"

His hard stare slips into something semi-fond, and he shakes his head. "I am the Chief of the Muses, and I preside over epic poetry as well as eloquence."

Harry furrows his eyebrows and tries to say, "What is that supposed to mean?" But he's cut halfway through by a strange, bearded man randomly asking the market-goers on their understanding of the meaning of life. So far, though, everyone was ignoring him. Probably because of his lack of sensibility or charm.

"Y'really wanna know what I do?" Louis looks mischievous, and Harry's heart is beating erratically. "Look at the bearded man."

He doesn't, though, he just looks at Louis as he walks towards the man with an unbelievable grace. They’re charmed so that the general public can't see or hear them, so when Louis starts singing halfway through Harry feels like the only spectator of the single most incredible event to ever happen.

Time stopped, that's for sure. He can't understand most of what he's singing, since he's sure it's some sort of ritualistic thing, but he doesn't need to in order to appreciate the beautifulness of it. Louis's voice is absolutely phenomenal; thin, airy and high, and so lovely it makes Harry want to tear his skin off just to let the smoothness of it heal him. It's an entirely religious experience, hearing him sing; his mood, his spirit, his entire being is lifted into a mental stratosphere. He feels enchanted by his voice, by Louis himself. His voice makes Harry want to form an entire religion _just_ to praise it; makes him want to write prayers and incantations, and perform them every single day just so he could hear three second of this beautiful melody. Louis's voice is… it just _is_. Now, Harry thinks Louis's a siren and he's a sailor, because this is surely going to be the death of him. Oh, and what a sweet death it'll be.

Louis's singing lowers when he's near the man, and he just sings for him while tracing his face lightly with his fingertips. That man is absolutely blessed in Harry's books, and it starts a fire of jealousy inside of him. He wants blood; more specifically, he wants the bearded man's blood dripping down his arms, his corpse littered -

"I'm back," Louis says and smiles at Harry, who's slight episode didn't stray him away from his mesmerized state. "Now, look at what happens."

The man goes back to questioning market-goers, but this time they actually pay attention. His choice of words and finesse when talking have bettered, and it draws the attention of a surrounding crowd - especially that of the Athenian youth.

"What did you do?" Harry asks with a smile, looking at a beautifully glowing Louis, preening at his success.

"I bestowed upon him the gift of eloquence," Louis pokes his shoulder to call his attention and points back at the man. "His name is Socrates, and he's going to become one of the greatest philosophers in history."

"Yeah? All because of you?"

 

"No, not all because of me," Louis shakes his head but his eyes are shining with pride, "The intelligence, the thoughts - that's all his. I granted him the ability to properly put it all into words and communicate it."

"That's amazing, Lou," Harry now points at a young man who's rushing to get out of the circle. "What's up with him? D'you know?"

"That's Aristocles," Louis answers quietly, as if he's going to hear them. It's adorable, and Harry feels a pull at his heartstrings. "Or, as he's going to be better known, Plato. He's on his way to his house to burn all of Socrates's works and become another one of the greatest philosophers in history."

"How do you know all of this?" He leans down with him, and whispers, "Are you _really_ Cassandra, and just fooling me to believe you're the most beautiful god to ever exist?"

Louis blushes, red like cherry tomatoes. "I know all of this because, in a few years, Plato is going to invoke my presence, much like Homer and many other writers did before him and will do after him," The way he says it is almost wistful and philosophical, as if Louis has enough wisdom to last an entire lifetime. "'Sides, if I were Cassandra, you wouldn't believe me."

"True!" Harry barks out a laugh and Louis soon follows. He knows he's in too deep when he forces himself to stop laughing so he can hear Louis's melodic one. He fell hard and fast, and he doesn't care. He's the God of War; reckless when it comes to war, sexual encounters that shouldn't happen, and falling in love with ethereal Muses. "Louis."

Louis's laugh turns to small giggles. "Yeah?"

Looking into his eyes, holding his hand, Harry says, "You've got a spell on me,"

At that, Louis kills him. He smiles so beautifully, so wonderfully, he thinks _he_ could start writing poems. "Apparently so."

Harry's sure that the world stopped spinning ever since he met Louis. Or, at least, his world did.

++

Their second date they truly do things like gods do.

It isn't much of a _date_ , really, as it is a _sexual encounter_ . They hadn't seen each other in a while - seven years in human time - so when they finally _did_ get to meet, it's at Ares' palace and Louis literally jumps on him, wrapping his legs around Harry's waist tightly.

"Wanna do something about it now?"

Harry laughs, head thrown back in glee. "We haven't even kissed yet, Louis."

"Let's change that." And with that, Louis kisses Harry and - _wow_ . Wow. It's just - _wow_. Louis's kiss feels magical, the thin rose lips enveloped easily by Harry's plump ones. There are serious sparks flying between them, and as his fingers trace Louis's skin they burn, burn arduously but soothingly - if that even makes any sense at all. As Louis's lips part to breathe in Harry, to let him in even further, Harry feels on top of the world. He licks inside his mouth in such a tender, loving way he never thought he'd be capable of. His tongue grazes over Louis's own, rubbing softly, making Louis gasp and hold onto Harry tighter.

Harry chuckles softly against his lips and lowers him gracefully onto the bed. He keeps kissing him, one of his hands remaining on top of Louis's legs while the other is tenderly holding onto his jaw. The intensity of the kiss never falters, Louis's lips are never hesitant, and Harry's mind goes back to when he first met Louis and wanted to drown in the color of his eyes. Now, he wants his very last breath to be taken away by him; he wants to be inhaled, he wants his life essence to be breathed in by Louis.

"Can I eat you out?" Harry asks and he feels Louis's heart beat erratically against his chest.

" _Gods_ , yes, please do so." Louis captures his lips once more, this time with a bite that has Harry grunting against his mouth. Louis giggles and pushes him back softly, undressing himself teasingly, tantalizingly slow. Once he's completely naked, Harry swears he's glowing. His tan, soft and smooth skin is glistening in an enchanting aura that seems to be innately Louis's. He licks his lips and tries to control his urges to devour, destroy and _wreck_ , but in the most pleasurable way possible. He feels as if right now, he's gazing at something so precious, he should bow down and adore him. So he does.

Harry undresses himself, quickly though, and drops to his knees. His lips press on Louis's dainty feet, and then they fall upon the warm skin of his smooth legs. Louis's half giggling, half moaning above him, squealing when Harry lifts one of his legs to pepper kisses on the back of his knee, a known sensitive side.

Harry tucks his head in the juncture of Louis's neck, licking and nipping at the warm flesh while his hands running desperately over his body. Louis's hands roam over his chest, nails raking over his pecks. They're both so fucking hard, their arousal is palpable in the air. "My strong, amazing Ares. So fit."

"While I appreciate the comments," He smirks as he licks a bite to soothe. "Can we refrain from calling each other our formal names? With you, there is no trace of the God of War. It's only Harry."

"Agreed," Louis smiles easily and kisses him again with too much fervor.

"How do you want me to do it?" Harry asks, lifting Louis's legs high until his knees are almost pressed against his shoulder blades. "Want me to eat you out like this or do you want to get on all fours?"

"Like this," Louis whimpers at the thought of Harry going down on him like this, all beautiful and volatile. "Want to see you, hold your hair while you fuck me with your tongue."

And _oh_ , if Harry wasn't hard before he definitely is now. That comment literally makes his cock throb, fucking _throb_. He doesn't waste time now that he has Louis's approval; he bends his knees until they're pressed up against Louis's collarbones and delves right in.

As soon as his tongue glides once over his hole, Louis's back arches with a whiney moan. " _Shit_ ," Louis tries to keep his body still, but Harry's barely eating him out and he's already moaning more than he's ever done.

"Yeah, Harry, _ah_ ," Harry gives open mouthed kisses to the fluttering hole, his teeth nipping at the tender flesh of Louis' rim and sucking gently. His hands are gripping and kneading the back of Louis' thighs, the flesh turning a wonderful red when Harry digs his fingernails in while slowly slipping his tongue inside of Louis. He almost loses grip of Louis, then, because the lovely Muse's back arches in an almost painful way, and his legs close in around Harry's head.

Harry's relentless, though, and with a force that has Louis mewling above him he spreads his legs again and starts actually fucking him with his tongue. With every tongue thrust he's rocking Louis' body simultaneously, in synch, and for a moment - after Louis claims feeling a bit woozy and overwhelmed - they slow down to the point where Harry's lips are against his rim and his tongue is fully inside of him. It's beautiful, in an odd way; it's as if you couldn't tell, for a moment, where Louis ended and where Harry began, and Harry thinks he can spend eternity gladly between Louis's thighs, eliciting pleasure from him in such an intimate way.

"'M good, 'm good, now, Hazza, can you?" The Muse babbles, his cheeks and chest flushed and his cock painfully hard, pressing against his toned stomach.

"Can you promise me you'll stay still?" Harry's breath falls upon his hole and his whole body shakes in anticipation. Louis gives brisk nods, murmuring _yeah, yeah, yeah_ under his breath, desperate to get off. Harry wishes he could freeze this moment in a frame, and stay like this.

Harry gives in, then, and moves one of his hands from the back of his thigh to his nipples, the rough pad of his fingers twiddling the pink nub between them, playing with it. " _Harry_ ," Louis breathes out and grinds his hips against the bed, wanting relief. After raking his nails over Louis' nipple, Harry licks incessantly over Louis' hole, sometimes teasingly slipping in for a moment, but for the most part just licking him up until his jaw aches in the most pleasant way. Louis' gasping and moaning enchantingly above him, his legs closing on Harry once more but this time it's welcome - the more he's pressed against Louis' arse, the harder are the drags of his tongue.

" _Ah_ , shit, Harry, you're eating me out _so good_ ," Louis grips Harry's hair with one of his hands and forces his head still, forces his head to be pressed against his arse, thinking that he has total control now - that is, until Harry moves his hand from his chest to the back of his thigh again and presses his knees against his collarbones. Open and sweet in his mouth, Harry shakes his head from left to right roughly, tongue sticking out and gliding against Louis's fluttering hole. Louis' back arches again in a loud plethora of moans and groans, and the grip on his hair lessens as he becomes knee-weak.

Louis is _so_ close to coming when -

" _Calliope. I summon you."_

" _Fuck_ ," Louis slides back on the bed, away from Harry's mouth. He puts his index fingers on his head because he's not summoned frequently enough to be used to it, so every time he is it hurts horrible. It's even worse when he replies, so Louis lies back and fists the sheets as he replies, " _Where to_?"

"Lou, what's going on? Did I hurt you? Are you overstimulated?" Harry questions, crawling onto the bed, his fingers tracing Louis's heated skin soothingly. Louis visibly relaxes at that.

"No, not that," Louis's voice is thinner than usual, a bit rougher - probably from how turned on he was before, maybe from the pain, who knows really - and he takes Harry's hand in his. "Zeus just summoned me."

Harry's face pales at that. When Zeus summons a god it's usually not good, _especially_ when they don't belong to the Pantheon. If it's a god or goddess from the Pantheon, it's usually missions or requests. If it's not… it's usually punishment.

" _Lou_ ," Harry places Louis on his lap, ignoring how _good_ it feels to have him on top of his still hard cock. "Do you think that-?"

Louis's shriek of pain interrupts Harry. " _The Underworld. Now."_

Louis rests his head against Harry's chest as tears fall from his eyes. His mouth is open in a silent sob, whimpers are the only sound he can make and his hold on Harry's hand tightens. Harry presses soothing kisses onto Louis's head, murmuring sweet nothings to calm the shaking Muse. He tries suppressing his anger at Zeus, he _really_ does because, in all reality, there's not much he can _do_ against him. However, for the trembling beauty who's on his lap right now, he'd attempt the impossible.

"Lou? Honey?"

"I," Louis licks his lip and his voice is cracked. Harry's used to the summoning, so it doesn’t hurt or affect him, but Louis clearly isn't and all he wants to do is forever hold him and never let him go. "I need to go to the Underworld."

Now that's - that's weird. If it were a punishment, Zeus would have sent for him to go to _his_ domain, not Hades'. "That's weird."

"At least it's not a punishment," Louis sighs softly and pecks Harry's lips. "I thought for a moment that he…"

"Yeah, me too," He kisses his lips once more. "I'm glad it isn't a punishment. Don't know what I would have done if it were."

"Nothing," Louis growls and his eyes gaze directly into Harry's. Harry tries to avoid the gaze, knowing he'll go weak if he does but Louis's relentless. "Harry, you have to promise me that if Zeus were to find out-"

" _He's not going to find out_ ," Harry hisses.

"If he does," Louis talks over him and gives him an Eskimo kiss. "If he does, and he casts a horrible punishment unto me, you have to promise me you won't do anything."

" _Darling_ ," Harry cradles his jaw and looks at him sweetly, his thumbs drawing soft circles in the hollow of his cheeks. "How can you expect me to sit back and do nothing?"

"Because, no matter what happens, I am yours. You will forever be with me," Louis murmurs and kisses the side of his lips. "Always in my heart."

"Always in my heart," Harry repeats after him, promising him, and kisses the side of his jaw. "My beautiful Calliope. My wonderful Louis, I love you."

At that, Louis presses a hard kiss onto his lips, his lips stretching into a beautiful grin. "Love you too, my beautiful Ares. My wonderful Hazza."

-

Of course Harry doesn't let Louis go alone.

Harry goes moments before Louis does, his arrival at the Underworld not going unnoticed. He nods at Aeacus, who's guarding the Asphodel Meadows, and then at Rhadamanthus. He believes he sees Sisyphus drowning in quicksand, but doesn't pay much attention to it.

Once he reaches Hades' building, his eyes set upon Simon and his mouth falls into a straight line.

"Ares?" Zeus questions as soon as he sees him. "What are you doing here?"

"I had an arrangement with Hades today to talk about the body count of the latest war," Harry replies.

"Is this true?" Simon turns around to question Zayn, who's a bit taken aback.

"Yes, it is," He agrees quickly. "And even if it wasn't, Ares is always welcome into my domain. I welcome whomever I want."

Before Zeus and Hades can start a fight, Ares asks, "Why, am I interrupting something?"

"Not _quite_ , but -" Simon is interrupted by the arrival of Calliope. Harry just saw him moments ago but, _gods_ , he thinks he'll always be stricken by Louis's beauty. Maybe it's because they're in the gloomiest, darkest place in the planet, but Louis seems to glow even more than usual. Harry's heart beats rapidly.

"Haz, what the fuck are you doing here?" Zayn whispers as they wait until Louis makes his way over. "We didn't make any arrangements."

"I know," Harry says. "Can you keep a secret?"

"I live in the Underworld, who can I tell anything to?"

" _Touchy_ ," he smiles and nods at Louis, who's almost there. "Calliope is my Persephone."

He doesn't see Zayn's response because Louis's there, right there, and Zeus welcomes him. "Calliope, my beauty," and, _okay_ , Harry knows Zeus is Calliope's father but that makes him growl. It's not as bad, though, as when he embraces Louis. Now, he's never in his _life_ seen Zeus embrace anyone, but now he's embracing _his Calliope_ and there's nothing fatherly about it. His hands are roaming freely over Louis's body and he grips his waist as they separate, his hands landing on his arse after, and Louis looks _so_ defeated, as if he's _used to it_.

Harry's _this_ close to losing it, and Zayn puts an arm in front of him. "Unless you want Simon to find out about you two, I suggest you fucking calm the fuck down."

"I summoned you because I have an assignment," Zeus finally separates from Louis, and the small Muse takes in a deep breath to relax. "There's a situation I need you to be the judge of."

"Okay," Louis concedes and rubs his wrist. "What is it?"

As if out of thin air, Aphrodite and Persephone appear. They both have a murderous glint in their eyes aimed towards one another, but they're relatively calm besides that. "They're having a dispute. Settle it."

With that, Zeus falls back and watches.

Persephone looks at him and smiles softly, mouthing a _hello_ that's not visible to anyone but Louis. Louis smiles back but shortly; if Zeus sees that he knows Niall, he might think he will be biased and everything will end up miserably.

"Alright, beauties, talk to me," Louis sings softly below his breath to gift them eloquence, so that this entire thing is civil and quick.

"I gave Persephone a chest for her to hide," Aphrodite starts speaking and Louis understands her draw; she is insanely beautiful, her dark skin and long hair absolutely enticing, and if he didn't have Harry he's entirely sure he'd be on his knees for her right now, "A chest that belonged to me, and now Persephone wants to keep its content."

"What was inside the chest?"

"Adonis." And, _oh_ , now Louis sees the conflict.

He's heard things about Adonis. Born from the incestuous relationship between the most beautiful mundane woman and her father, he is supposedly a beauty to be reckoned with. It's been said that his beauty rivals that of Apollo, the God of Masculine Beauty. "Okay, both of you, please tell me your side of the story. Persephone, you first."

As Niall starts explaining how once he opened the box, he knew he fell in love, Harry turns to look at Zayn and is surprised by the fond expression he bears towards Niall. "Z, you're okay with that?"

"Yeah," Zayn says and smiles lopsided. "We have too much time in our hands. Niall and I, we've already been together for countless centuries. We've decided to be in a poly relationship, but discuss it beforehand. But we're in front of the rest, y'know?" He smiles at Niall, who's screaming directly at Aphrodite's face while Louis tries, but fails miserably, at calming both of them down by the side. "It's me and Niall before anyone else."

"That sounds like a great arrangement," Harry agrees and glances at Louis, who's _still_ trying to calm them down by, apparently, giving them breathing exercises. His entire countenance is fond, now, and he can feel himself turn to mush. "I don't think I'd be able to do that with Louis. I'd be too jealous, and jealousy and I don't mix well."

" _Oh, I know_ ," Hades laughs and glares at Zeus, who's looking at the three on the ground - Aphrodite, Persephone and Calliope - as if they're territory to be marked. He jabs Ares in the ribs and nods at the place where Zeus is at. "Simon's getting on my last nerves, Haz, 'm telling you."

"I'm so close to losing it, it's not even funny, Z," Harry growls and his blood starts boiling, his fingers are trembling and _shit_ , if he doesn't control his temper he's going to end up doing something he'll regret.

"Shit, Harry, calm the fuck down," Zayn runs his hands over Harry's arms in a soothing manner, blowing air into his face so that he cools down, "You know you can't do anything to him, not now."

"I know," Harry concedes. "That's what angers me the most."

Suddenly, everybody's eyes are on Louis as he claps loudly. He's standing between Persephone and Aphrodite, stance powerful and domineering. It's such a beautiful sight; Harry feels heart palpitations. "I have come to a decision."

"What is it, my dear Calliope?" Zeus asks, his lips etching into a wicked grin.

"I have decided that, since you both love him equal amounts," Louis licks his lips and rubs his wrists, knowing that what he's going to say will be difficult to stomach. "Adonis will spend one-third of the year with Aphrodite, one-third with Persephone, and the remaining third however he pleases."

Persephone's eyes widen in glee, a smile breaking out. He gives a beautiful laugh and sends Hades a thumbs up, but Aphrodite isn't as pleased with that decision.

" _What did you just say_ ?" Aphrodite walks towards him and seizes the collar of his robe with an open fist, lifting him up by the neck. Calliope is struggling to get out but, as a Muse he's strong; however, his strength is incomparable to that of a god or goddess from the Pantheon. He's losing breath quickly and his tiny feet are dangling uncomfortably. "You disgusting little _Muse_ ," she spits at him at the last word and there are tears going down Louis's cheeks. "How fucking _dare_ you -."

"Unhand him now or honest-to-gods I will fucking rip your throat out."

Ares' voice booms throughout the void space in the Underworld. Every god stands up and recoils when they see him in his full splendor, his metal armor covering his body in a way that means war. His stance is that of battle and his lips are stretched out into a wicked grin. His eyes are red, in his hands there's a half-spear and his entire being is radiating murder. He walks towards Aphrodite, slow and menacingly, and Louis feels the grip on his throat lessen. "I'm not joking around, Aphrodite. _Unhand him_."

" _Ares_ ," Aphrodite's mouth is open in an 'o' and her eyes are wide in surprise. "You would choose a Muse over me? I'm sure this simple Muse cannot give you what I have given you before."

Calliope struggles even more after that comment, wanting to choke _her_ now. However, Ares just lifts his half-spear and glares at her. "I won't say it again, Aphrodite, and you know it," He's face-to-face with Aphrodite and, in the past, just being in her mere presence would have weakened him with lust and want. However, now… "Unhand. Him."

Aphrodite lets out a small noise from the back of her throat and throws Calliope to the ground. Calliope immediately takes deep breaths and recoils into a ball, as if shielding himself from the world and _fuck_ , it's _killing_ Ares to see him like this. "Go, or I won't hold back."

"Watch out, Muse," Her nostrils are flaring and her face is turning beet red in anger. She casts Calliope a dirty loop and murmurs, "You will suffer as much as I have." And, with that, disappears.

Harry's trying so, _so_ hard to not pick Louis up and hold him against his chest. One look at Louis and he's going to do it, but is stopped by a booming voice in the background. "Well, that was certainly interesting," Zeus says and looks at Ares directly to his eyes, challenging him. "What would be the reason for such violent threats?"

"When have I ever needed a reason to start a war?"

His voice is firm and the answer is simple. Simon hums and nods, deeming the answer acceptable and disappearing as well. Niall rushes towards Zayn and jumps in glee, kissing Zayn lovingly while the God of the Underworld spins him around. They're pressing smiling kisses to one another, and their noses are rubbing sweetly. It's a touching scene, but Harry's more concerned with his fallen lover.

"Lou?" He drops down and all of the armor disappears, being replaced by his normal attire. He takes the Muse in his arms and places him on his lap, running his hands on his hair soothingly while pressing soft kisses on his arms. "Lou, darling, are you okay?"

"I'm used to being treated as less for being such a minor god," Louis's voice breaks and Harry's fucking murderous right now. "But I've never been spit on. I hadn't experienced that much degradation, until today, that is."

"Oh, _Boo_ ," Harry holds him tight and kisses him lovingly wherever he can. Louis's crying in his neck, and Harry feels so _useless_ because he promised Louis he wouldn't do anything. "You're so much more than she is, so much more." He cradles his face and presses fluttering kisses on the fallen tears. Louis's eyes are clear and crystalline, and he feels like he can't breathe. "I love you, darling."

"Love you, too."

"You'll always be safe with me," Harry promises. "I'll make sure you never face another humiliation like that."

Little do they know, as they share sweet kisses and long embraces, Zeus is in the skies summoning Helios for a request that will end up proving Ares's promise false.

++

They're sitting on top of the highest mountain in all of Olympus, and their fingers are laced. Harry's head is on Louis's chest, the Muse's breath is falling softly on the top of his head, and he's never felt so alive. When they first laid down there Hemera was out and about, but now it seems she's switched places with Nyx.

"Looks like Nyx had to come out of Tartarus at some point, right," Harry comments softly, admiring the shining stars on the sky above. He can see the constellations aligning themselves and tries to remember how they came about; which god or goddess put them there. He sees Cancer and thinks it might have something to do with Hera, but he can't be bothered to verify that information.

Louis kisses the top of his head and sighs softly. "Yeah. Want to hear a cool story?"

"I always want to hear what you want to say."

Louis giggles and looks down at him. "D'you know Orpheus?"

"Vaguely, uh," Harry licks his lips and thinks for a bit. "He was a Thracian musician, right? And he founded the, um, Orpheuic mysteries or something?"

"Thracian musician, poet and prophet, mind you." He laughs and corrects him. "And he's the founder of Orphic - _not_ Orpheuic, what even _is_ that, Haz? - mysteries.

"Alright, alright," Harry grumbles and crosses his arms while Louis silently laughs. "What about him?"

"Well, you know how he's my son, right?"

"He - _what_ ?" Harry stands up and looks at Louis, scandalized, "Your _son_? With who? When? What? I -"

"Harry, calm down!" Louis chuckles a small bit but his eyes are widened in small panic, "Yes, Orpheus is my son. I had him with Apollo -

" _Apollo, the God of Masculine Beauty_ ?" Harry's shrieking now and the Muse is trying _so hard_ to not burst out laughing again. "You're telling me that I'm competing with fucking Apollo? How am I supposed to compete with that?!"

"There's nothing to compete about," Louis smiles at him softly and tightens the grip on Harry's hand, "I'm with you, not him. There are reasons for that."

"Yeah, but -"

"Need I remind you that you have children with _Aphrodite_ ? Who is, without a doubt, the most beautiful goddess in all of Olympus _and_ the Goddess of Beauty?"

"But most of my attraction to her was because of her charm and _draw_ , you know? Apollo doesn't have that kind of draw, he's just pretty," Harry lies back down and now it's Louis's turn to lie his head on his chest. Harry immediately wraps a protective arm around his slim waist and presses his fingernails possessively on his hips, "'Sides, I don't think she's the prettiest goddess."

Louis arches his right eyebrow in astonishment. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not lying, I swear," He smiles and traces circles with his thumb on top of Louis's hip bone. "I seriously believe that you are, without a doubt, the most beautiful goddess in all of Olympus."

"With you I'm a god, though; you haven't seen my female persona."

"True," Harry concedes, "You're the most beautiful god in all of Olympus, and your male persona is prettier than any goddess as well - so I can only imagine your striking beauty as a goddess."

Louis only laughs at that, his breath falling on Harry' quickening heartbeat. "Oh, really? What do you base that opinion on?"

"You didn't need any charm or draw to make me fall for you."

Louis turns around and kisses him softly, languidly stealing the very last of Harry's breath, "Will you let me continue my story now, love?"

Harry chases after his lips once more and smiles. "Of course, darling."

"So," Louis rests his head on his chest again and gets comfortable, his hands falling on his stomach. "Nyx was a really important figure in several of Orpheus' poems. In them, Nyx - not Chaos - is the 'commencer of all creation', and she occupies an _adyton_ where she gives oracles. Outside of the _adyton_ there was Adrasteia, shaking and trembling the world in rhythm to Nyx's chanting with the beating of tympanums and the clashing of cymbals."

"Adrasteia," Harry says her name tentatively, "Was she the Muse who protected Zeus from Cronus while he was still a child?"

"That’s the one," Louis smiles and continues, "Inside the _adyton_ , there was Cronus, who prophesied and dreamed while he was asleep and drunk on honey."

"Nyx imprisoned Cronus?" Harry asks incredulously, "How so?"

"'M not sure about that, love, but it surely isn't that surprising," He presses a soft kiss on Harry's chest before continuing. "Zeus himself fears Nyx. There has got to be a reason for that."

"Right," Harry agrees and remembers having heard - read? - that before. He looks down at Louis now, utterly charmed by the intelligent Muse. "And you know all of this, how?"

"I'm Orpheus' mother," Louis states out, tracing lazy lines on Harry's stomach with his finger. If asked, Harry'll deny it but that mere motion is stirring _something_ in the pit of his stomach that he can't quite dwell on. "Not only did he call for me for help, but I was the one who bestowed upon him the gifts and abilities of song-writing and eloquence. I always read the product of the gifts I bestow."

As he's saying this, Harry's chest fills with pride and admiration. He can hear him talk for the rest of eternity, if he could, about the stories he's inspired. Looking at him, breathing him in, Harry says, "You make me want to pray to Chronos for time to stop, infinitely."

Louis giggles and turns around, his legs caging Harry's hips and his hands pressed on the grass besides his head. "We're already immortal, Haz, what more do you want?"

His eyes get drawn to Louis's lips, and he lifts himself up a smidge by relying his force on his arms, elbows now pressing against the grass. "Want to be sure, completely sure, that I can forever hear your voice and your enchantments. That I can be yours and you can be mine, till the end of times."

Louis doesn’t hesitate to press his lips against Harry's, sitting on his lap. He places his hands on Harry’s jaw, marveling in the rough feeling of the skin underneath as he tilts his head along the movement of their lips. Harry’s jaw aches a bit from the position they’re in, but he doesn’t mind much; it’s a welcome ache, one that incites him to chase after the flowery smell innate to Louis with his nose and lips, to dig his fingernails in the soft flesh, to bruise, and to lick into Louis’ mouth and steal the very last of his breath - much like he does to him every day. Harry can feel how Louis’ lips are starting to bruise from the hard press of their lips and it only enhances the moment. It’s loving, their kiss, and it also bruises beautifully. His hands are secured on his hips and they softly switch to Louis’ arse, fondling the tanned, warm flesh with his cold hands.

They both moan against each other’s lips at the gesture and part, fingers trembling in anticipation, and Harry _knows_ he's never felt this before; this desperation to touch and be touch, to love and to be loved. "What do you want?"

Louis tilts his head to press his lips against Harry's again, shortly this time. "I want anything you're willing to give me."

"I'm willing to give you my everything."

Louis's eyes sparkle as if he has the stars in his eyes. Maybe he does, it definitely wouldn't surprise Harry if he did. In fact, it'd be much more logical for Louis to be something much more than just a Muse, more than just a god. Louis's hands set his body aflame as they run over his chest, stopping to lock behind his neck. He leans upwards once more, places his lips in front of Harry's with only nanometers in between and whispers, "Then I want your everything."

And Harry gives him just that.

He kisses Louis fervently, languidly, preciously - as if time is running out, slipping between their fingers. His body feels warm under his hands, and his fingertips slip to the hem of Louis' robe to take it off slowly.

It’s quick to take off, and his mouth is on his neck before he even realizes it. Louis’ taking his clothes off now, but Harry’s focused on covering the tan column of his neck with his mouth, leaving it littered with bruises that will stain his skin for some time. He craves for some sort of security that Louis is real, that this is not his imagination, that this moment is actually happening - the bruises, the small marks adorning that exposed area of Louis are the only reminders - besides Louis himself - that Harry, at some point, has had a claim over him.

 

Once both are stripped nude and bare, with Louis’ hands roaming freely across the expanse of his chest and his lips red, he bites at his collarbones and traces circles around his nipples. Louis’ panting softly, his cock hardening by the second, and soon enough he’s whining _touch me_ in his ear.

Harry gives Louis' cock a quick tug, and he pants, "Darling, I want you to sit on my face." against Louis' moan. The Muse shivers in anticipation at that and nods quickly. Harry lies on his back slowly, Louis' hands are on his chest so that he doesn't fall, and once he's completely on the bed Louis switches positions so that his perky, plump arse is in front of Harry's face.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Haz?" Louis bites his lip worriedly. "What if I suffocate you or something?"

 

"You won't suffocate me, I'm sure," Harry grabs onto Louis's thighs and pulls him in, getting him into the close proximity Harry needed but making him lose balance for a split second. His face falls on the side of Harry's toned, chiseled stomach, besides his cock, and he has an idea. "Haz, can I - _fuck_!"

Harry started licking mid-sentence, his tongue roughly pressing against Louis' sensitive hole in firm, broad stripes. Louis' hands go to Harry's smooth thighs and his fingers curl against his skin, lightly scratching on the surface. He moans softly, slowly moving his hips in synch with what seems to be Harry's rhythm, and soon enough the tip of Harry's tongue is circling his rim and slipping inside.

"Yeah, _shit_ , more," Louis whines and, he needs to do _something_ or else he's going to go insane. He sits up a little bit, giving Harry better access, and Harry's hands go to his hips to control him from moving too much. He has to reach out more, now, and his jaw is aching in a beautiful way, and he can't imagine anything better than this.

That is, until he feels soft, small hands grab his cock and a warm mouth on the head. He stops momentarily and emits a harsh groan while Louis envelops his cock with his mouth, sucking and suctioning in ways that make Harry see the stars. He's already breathing harshly at the sensation and he knows he'll probably come soon _just_ from the sensation of Louis' mouth being around him - good thing gods' libidos are good enough to last as long as he desires - so he grabs the tube of oil he always has perched on the night table and drizzles enough to generously lather three of his fingers. He inserts the first finger when Louis slurps around him, making him moan roughly, sending vibrations down Harry's cock.

" _Fuck_ , Lou, so good," Harry moans and starts fucking Louis with his index finger, not particularly aiming at anything but making Louis feel good nonetheless. When Louis starts bobbing his head faster down the length of Harry's cock, quickly making Harry's climax approach, Harry thrusted the other two fingers inside of him with a harsh groan, tilting his jaw so he can trace Louis' rim with his tongue.

" _Ah, Haz, more!_ " Louis replaces his mouth with his hand and straightens up, grinding his hips, riding Harry's fingers and mouth. He places the hand that's not on Harry's cock on one of his nipples, twisting and pulling at it with a desperation that has the God of War losing himself in this wonderful Muse. With his mouth slightly open, panting and moaning and whining, Louis comes all over Harry's chest.

"Beautiful," Harry breathes out as Louis falls forward, his head right next to Harry's cock. He still tilts his head to lick at the side, to lap at the top of his balls, and Harry moans and slaps his arse cheek. Louis sits up and licks as much of his own come as he can. The scene is insanely hot, and when Louis' almost finished Harry slaps his arse again, this time slightly harder. "Up, up, want you to ride me."

" _Yeah_ ," Louis breathes out and switches around so that he's face-to-face with Harry. His hands are besides his head as he leans down to kiss him. Their kiss quickly turns dirty, with teeth clashing, tongues invading each other's mouths and saliva trickling from the corners of their mouths. There's something about Harry licking inside Louis' mouth, tasting his come, and Louis sucking his tongue, which had previously been up his arse, that's extremely erotic. Louis whines at the thought and presses his hips on Harry's, his cock brushing his lover's. Harry gets the message and slips his hand down to grasp at his semi-hard cock. His fingers still have oil lathered over them, so there's minimal friction when he gives Louis' cock rough, quick tugs.

"Yes, Harry, like that," Louis thrusts into his hand, desperate to fully harden again. He's turned on beyond reason, and he's a bit sensitive from coming not long ago and everything feels _so good_. When Harry rubs his thumb over the head of his cock, he's a goner.

"Now, now, _please_ , I'm ready now," Louis babbles on and pushes himself forward on the bed, stretching his arm out to grab the oil from the stand. He squeezes out a large dollop onto the palm of his hand and then puts it back. Harry's still lying down on the bed, so it's not exactly hard for him to sit on his chest, his back to him, to get his mouth on his cock one more time. Harry groans from behind him as he bobs his head thrice in long, tight movements, releasing his cock with a _pop_. After, he lathers his cock with the oil in his hand. He takes his sweet time with him; Louis tugs at his cock twice, slowly, and then fondles his balls, scraping his sternum with his nail. Harry's moaning roughly, thrusting his cock in the air at the sensation, and Louis giggles at him.

"Ready for me, babe?" Harry asks gruffly, placing his hands on his hips and gripping tightly.

"I should ask you the same thing," Louis bites his lip sensually and smiles. He turns his body around so that he's facing Harry, now. He cleans the remaining oil off his hand on the sheets - at which Harry pouts but he only laughs - and lifts his hips, grasping Harry's cock and guiding it to his hole. The tip is barely nestled in, just barely teasing his rim, and Louis' already gasping from above him. He's a breathtaking picture, Harry realizes, and he'd give anything to keep this scene ingrained in his mind for all eternity.

He's broken out of his repertoire by Louis actually slipping his cock inside of himself, slowly lowering his body, releasing soft pants and whines until his arse is placed on Harry's thighs. He moans prettily and places his hands on Harry's chest, using it as leverage to lift himself up and snap his hips downwards again. Both he and Louis are moaning like maniacs at the sheer feeling of being in this position; so intimate, so loving yet so dirty, it's riveting.

It doesn't take long for Louis to speed up his rhythm. He's bouncing beautifully on Harry's cock, moaning and whining loudly every time Harry's cock is fully nestled inside of him. His moans blend in with Harry's groans, and the intoxication smell of each other drives them insane. Louis lets out a string of _yeah, fuck yeah_ and _ah, oh shit, yes_ while Harry slaps his arse cheeks whenever he lifts up again. His fingers curl in Harry's chest, rubbing against his nipples, and then he falls on top of Harry, exhausted.

"'M doing all the work here, babe," Louis grunts and presses a kiss to Harry's lips. "Mind helping out here, love?"

"Sure thing," Harry agrees languidly and grabs onto Louis' hips even tighter now. He presses the heel of his feet on the bed, careful not to disrupt their position too much, and then starts thrusting upwards in harsh, powerful jabs, fucking into Louis.

"Oh _shit_ ," Louis mewls and holds himself up by his hands besides Harry's head again. He kisses Harry, then, biting and bruising and abusing his lips as Harry fucks directly into his prostate, screaming and panting into his mouth. Harry shushes him by delving his tongue inside of his mouth, swallowing his moans and cries, and he's relentless with his thrusts.

Louis whines roughly and bites Harry's lip hard enough to draw blood. "Haz, 'm gonna come soon," He warns.

"Me too," Harry responds and starts fucking into him even faster, even _harder_ , at an inhumane speed. The bed is literally moving along with them, knocking against the bed akin to how Harry is fucking Louis' breath away. Louis' screaming now, and Harry tilts his head up and kisses him again. When Louis sucks his tongue again and moans, Harry comes while moaning _Louis_ , nestled deeply inside of Louis.

Louis follows suit, screaming Harry's name and coming again on Harry's chest. He buries his head in Harry's neck and tries to control his irregular breathing, as well as his erratic heartbeat. Harry's still inside of him, which makes this scene much tenderer than anything he's experienced before. He shifts their bodies so that Louis' on his side and slowly, carefully slips out. Louis hisses at the sensitivity but keeps his eyes closed, exhaustedly curling into himself. When Harry gets up, though, he opens his eyes and looks at him alarmed.

"Where’re you goin'?" He asks, his voice breaking at some of the words.

Harry tries not to smile at the thought that _his voice is rough because of him_. "'M just going to find a moist rag, to clean you up."

"Oh," Louis murmurs and closes his eyes again. "'Kay, you do you."

Harry snorts and grabs a rag from his stand. He goes quickly to the bathroom and pours water on it, wringing out the excess before going back to Louis. His lover is too knackered to fully register his presence; therefore, he's gentle with his cleaning. Louis flinches at first at the contact of the cold rag on his heated skin, but soon after accepts it. He didn’t come the second time as much as he did the first time, so there wasn't much to clean, really. Therefore, when he's done soon after, he lies besides Louis, pressing his chest to the Muse's back. He presses a kiss on the back of his ear and marvels in the way Louis giggles softly.

"Rest, my love," Louis murmurs, turning around so that his head is lying on Harry's chest. "'M tired, and I want to lay with you."

Harry looks down at him and wonders where, when, _how_ this beautiful god managed to enrapture and enamor him so hard, so quickly. He smiles, though, because he would have it no other way. Therefore, when Louis presses a sweet kiss on his chest, he closes his eyes and whispers, "Rest too, my darling."

-

Harry's already halfway done with putting on his armor when Louis wakes up. He tries not to panic, he really does, but he just _knows_ that Louis is going to be disappointed and… he doesn't know what he'll do if Louis's disappointed with him. He freezes as Louis rubs his eyes with tiny fists and looks around, his eyes and nose scrunching up as he assesses Harry. "Haz?" His voice is rough from sleep and Harry otherwise would've kissed him, but he doesn't have the time to now. "Haz, what are you-?"

His question's cut off when he realizes that Harry has on his fucking armor and, _fuck_. "No, no, no," he tries to straighten up but only hisses in pain.

Harry runs to him quickly. "Lou, darling, are you okay?" He goes to place his hands on him but Louis slaps them away in a fit of rage.

"Don't fucking touch me right now!" Louis exclaims. His hair is sticking up in different directions, his skin is tan and smooth except in the areas that Harry marked with his teeth, and his eyes are wide in anger. He looks so breathtakingly beautiful, but Harry can't focus on that when he's that mad at him.

"Are you okay, though?" At the sincerity and worry laced in his voice, Louis sighs and calms down a bit. He places his hand on top of Harry's and grips softly. "I'm fine, I'm just sore from last night."

Harry smiles at that and laughs softly. "Gave it to you good, huh."

Louis, however, just looks at him sadly. "Where are you going?"

At that Harry sighs and continues putting on his armor, taking his time now. "There's a Trojan war occurring right now and I've been summoned."

"Just because you've been summoned doesn't mean you have to go."

"It's the Achaeans versus the Trojans," Harry continues and finishes getting ready, his half-spear is in his hand as he replies. "All of the gods and goddesses are rooting for the Achaeans. I promised Hera I'd be there, for the Achaeans. But," He licks his lips and looks at Louis with a pleading expression; pleading him to understand, to let him go, to love him anyway. "I need to be there for the Trojans. For you."

"Is she there?"

When Harry only nodded, Louis sighs. "Oh, Harry," Louis stands up slowly and approaches Harry. If Harry didn't know him better he'd say he's seducing him with his naked body, but Harry knows that when it comes to serious things like this Louis doesn't joke around. "Thank you, love, but it's not necessary for you to go."

"But they need me!"

"I need you!" Louis exclaims. "I need you here Haz, with me. Please don't leave me."

He looks so fucking heartbroken that it hurts Harry, it physically hurts Harry to do so… but he had to. "I'm sorry, Lou. The war's calling me."

He takes two steps forward when Louis stops him with the worst thing possible, probably. "Goodbye, Ares."

They never do this. When they're together, when they're intimate and just themselves, they never call the other by their formal name. It's their way of rejecting their titles and functions and just focus on being together, on being themselves. On the outside their relationship isn't exactly approved of, so they have to act all formal and strict, but here… here they forget all about that, and throw caution out the window. So when he calls him that, it hurts him, it deeply wounds him because it was Louis's way of rejecting their status to themselves.

Harry takes a deep breath and looks at Louis, broken. "Lou…"

"I just don't understand!" Louis shrieks and tugs at his own hair out of frustration, "Why is it that I feel like I will always come second to war? Is it, perhaps, that murders and spilt blood are more tempting than our love?"

"They aren't," Harry goes to him, now, and he grabs his hands. "They aren't more important, or more tempting. You're never second to anything."

"Then? I don't understand."

"You don't understand because you're not from the Pantheon, darling," Louis's face starts reddening and Harry presses a cool kiss on his cheek. "I don't mean it as a jab, you know that I don't say this to treat you as a lesser god." Louis pouts but doesn't say anything, giving room for Harry to explain himself. "As a God from the Pantheon, I have much more responsibilities and requests and orders than you do, darling. I'm more called to, and what kind of God would I be if I didn't respond?"

Louis huffs and crosses his arms childishly, looking at the floor, "A shitty one," He concedes but in a mumble.

Harry chuckles softly and tilts Louis's head forward with his index finger on his chin. "Exactly," he kisses his lips and smiles, "You seem to forget I am also Ares, God of War."

"I'm sorry," Louis looks at their linked hands, "sometimes it's hard to associate the Harry I know with the God of War spoken about in the myths."

"Can I ask you a question, before I go?"

"Of course, Haz."

Harry takes a deep breath, sincerely afraid of the answer. "Are you… Are you ashamed of that side of me?"

Louis's eyes widen ridiculously and he hits Harry's chest softly in an attempt to harshly pet him. "No, no, _no_! Not at all, Harry."

"Then why are you always so opposed of me showcasing that side?"

"Because, unlike you, I did read about you!" Louis bites his lip and rubs his wrists uncomfortably. "I read all of the myths about you and, Hazza, you're not painted in a lovely picture when you're Ares. I just… can't seem to make the connection between my sweet Harry and my bloodthirsty Ares."

"One day you will," Harry reassures him, and Louis isn't sure if that's a positive or a negative thing. "One day you will, and you will see that the myths are not always correct. But until then, I'm content with you claiming both parts of me as yours."

Louis smiles. "Of course they're mine. They're as much mine as Calliope and Louis are yours."

"They are," Harry grins and kisses him once more before standing up from the bed, "Always in my heart?"

"Always in my heart."

Just as he was about to leave, Louis speaks up once more. "Harry!" The God of War turns around quickly, hopefully, and feels the heavy feeling being lifted from his heart as Louis smiles. "Be sure to come back home."

When Harry leaves, the sun is shining far brighter than it had all day, which was strange, but neither seems to be concerned. As far as Harry’s concerned, everything is always brighter when he’s with Louis, so it isn’t a strange event.

However, as they both disappear and leave to their respective domains, Helius comes forward from the sun’s rays and flutters towards the skies. His chariot is majestic, and the horses part the clouds with their hooves. It’s a beautiful sight, and the mundanes would think he’s something akin to a shooting star streaking across the sky. Little did they know, he was a god on a mission.

His chariot lands in front of Zeus in his domain, and he swerves across the steel floor. Zeus has a palace amongst the clouds, and a throne too high to be seated on by anyone but him to showcase his superiority. His face is as hard as steel, and his being oozes power and dominance. He has a bolt in his hands, which sparks a bit of fear in Helius, but nonetheless he speaks up.

“Zeus, I saw something as I flew above the clouds.”

Zeus looks down and walks towards him, his steps echoing throughout the skies. “What is it?”

“Ares, with Calliope. In Ares’ palace.”

“Are you sure of what you’re saying?” He raises the question with too much authority, it has Helius quaking in his spot.

“Yes, Zeus, I saw the entire scene.”

There’s a paralyzing silence encompassing the air between them, and the atmosphere feels thick. If they weren’t gods, it would be easy to assume that the heaviness they felt was due to the amount of air pressure ringing through their bodies. However, they both know why it’s there - the consequences that will befall the two gods for their actions.

"Hephaestus," Zeus summons him and the lame god comes quickly.

"Yes, Zeus?"

"I need a net."

+

There is blood dripping from his hands and a heavy half-spear is sheathed valiantly from one of them. His body's aching, his head throbbing, and the bones of the fallen soldiers adorn the dirty ground. Screams of glory and defeat pierce through his ears and his chest, though heaving, filled with pride. A fiery, burning feeling of rage and ire takes over his being, and he's yearning murder. His mouth pleads for the taste of blood. The crunching sounds of the bones fall deaf to his ears as he steps on them, mercilessly; they didn't pray for him. There's a woman in front of him who bears a short-spear and a shield, and she's standing defensively awaiting his arrival.

"You think you can get away with supporting the Trojans in this war?" Her voice booms, he feels a headache forming just from that. She is fully armored and intimidating.

"Ah, lovely to see you here," His voice matches hers but it sounds sick, gruesome, bare. "Thought they'd be worshipping you for nothing."

"I, unlike you, stand with my soldiers," She, like him, towers over the fighting warriors, who run between their feet. “You are as treacherous as you have always been. You gave Hera and I your word that you would stand for the Achaeans.”

“I gave no such thing,” He smirks at her. “I agreed to it, but I never gave my word.”

“What is your reason to always stand against me?” She implores, her voice weighed down by frustration.

He steps closer and she shields herself defensively. They don’t call her the Goddess of Wisdom for nothing. “I have many reasons to stand against you. It’s not so hard when you’re always so treacherous.”

She gives a sardonic laugh that holds enough bitterness to drown him. “The only treacherous one here is you, brother.” She wields her short-spear and gets in a fighting stance. “What is your reason _this_ time?”

"I'd do anything for my Calliope," His voice is gruff, unintelligible, and barely recognizable. He spits blood on the floor before pointing his half-spear at her. "Get out of my way, or your bones will blend in with those of your petty soldiers."

"Not a chance," She grunts. "Do you really think you can defeat me?"

His hands start shaking uncontrollably and his thirst for blood only grows. He has an insatiable appetite for murder and loss, his system urges him to kill. His instincts kick in and he bears his teeth at her threateningly. "I will if I have to."

The woman has the audacity to laugh, her cackling overpowering the pained cries of the falling soldiers. The sky turns red, blood red, and the air is musk. It is a definite sign of the upcoming battle. "You never have defeated me, what makes you think you will this time?"

"Because," He rounds up to her, heavy footsteps like short earthquakes. He brings his half-spear to his mouth and licks the dripping blood as incentive. "This time I have something to fight for."

"The Achaeans will win!" Her arrogance irks him. "And your precious Calliope will fall."

As she speaks those words his ire grows overwhelmingly and he charges instinctively at her, half-spear elegantly drawn to combat her own weapons. He screams in rage as he nears her, dust contaminating the air like the poison in his veins, and his eyes was dead set on the target. Just when he's at a reasonable distance he throws his half-spear and it lands on her breast, making her step back and slightly recoil in pain. Her pained cry was like thunder, like a thousand raging bulls, and he's close to relishing in his victory; however, he is stopped by a large rock falling out of nowhere and landing upon him, making him unconscious.

-

Ten human years pass, which feels like a week or two in Mount Olympus, when Harry finally returns from war. It was a long an arduous battle; the Trojans were _so close_ to winning but, of course, the Achaeans won. The decisive turn was when Odysseus - lead by Athena - devised a plan to finally put an end to the long war. Their boats were scattered out of sight while a large horse, made completely out of wood, was built. They called it the _Trojan Horse_ . It was given to the Trojans as an offering of peace; however, Odysseus - along with a few hundred men - hid _inside_ of the horse. Upon nightfall, Odysseus and his troop set the city of Troy ablaze and, consequently, won the war. It was an extremely smart move, one that Ares could have never predicted. It was a horrible yet effective tactic.

Normally, Harry doesn't care much about the end of the war; for him, what's important is the fight in itself, the blood pouring in streams like rivers, the melodic sound of the cries of men, the scattering of bones all across the land and the kind of high adrenaline only obtained from manslaughter. During this war, though, there was something spurring him on to finish even faster. To not enjoy these simple pleasures as much, to not focus on the thrill too much and just _get on with it_ . For a moment he thought it might have been because of the scolding he was going to receive from Zayn after but, then again, Zayn _always_ scolded him after any war so, what made this war special?

It dawned on him, right as he struck his half-spear inside a line of twenty-two men: There was someone waiting for him back home.

Now that the war is finally over, he can't wait until he can embrace Louis again. Until his hands are wrapped around his curvy torso, until his nose is pressed against his neck, until his lips are on his own. Therefore, upon reaching his palace, Harry slips into his master, silently stepping inside in case Louis is busy or sleeping off his tiredness.

He's not, though. Louis is standing in the balcony, looking up at the sky with his back towards Harry. As soon as his eyes fall on Louis, assess the room, he knows something's definitely wrong. While the bed is perfectly made the sheer piece used as blanket is hanging off the side in disarray. They look… they look just like they did when Harry left. It's as if nobody has occupied them since, which is definitely strange because Louis stayed here that entire time. That piece of information is quite evident, because everything smells like him; therefore, it begs the question, _why hadn't he slept in this entire time_?

Another thing that's wrong with this entire scene is Louis himself. Normally, knowing Louis like he does, he should have jumped into Harry's arms as soon as he walked in, or kissed his face, or greet him, done _something_ to welcome his presence. However, he's just… standing there. His back is slumped, as if the weight of the world is hanging on his shoulders, and, most importantly, his golden crown is not on his head - which is _definitely_ a sign that something's wrong. Louis never takes his crown off, not even when they've had sex, so why is he not wearing it?

"Darling, I'm here," Harry reaches Louis and wraps his arms around his waist, pressing his chest to Louis' back. His face noses the juncture between Louis' neck and stays there, kissing his warm skin softly. At first there's no reply from Louis, not even a small murmur or movement. Harry tilts his head to press a kiss behind his ear, then, and makes Louis shiver.

"Not now, Haz," Louis replies softly, softer than he's even done before. There's a wave of sadness in his voice and it washes Harry roughly enough to drown him in it. His grip on Louis tightens. No words are exchanged after that, there is no necessity for it at the moment. Harry assesses the side of Louis' face, what he can of his profile, and all he stares at is an overwhelming, forlorn expression in his countenance that hits Harry hard. What the hell happened while he was gone?

"Darling, please tell me what's wrong," He murmurs, his worry rooted in his words. Although he highly doubts it's about it, he asks, "Is this about me going to war?"

Louis moves out of his embrace, then, and Harry has to stop himself from chasing after him. "Surprisingly enough, love, not everything is about you," Louis replies, sitting on the bed, rubbing his wrists. Harry tries very hard not to take the jab personally, mostly because Louis' voice is too empty for it to actually _be_ a jab.

"Tell me, then," Harry moves towards him then, getting on his knees to grasp his hands. They're almost at eye-level in this position, with Louis being slightly taller - which is not the norm, since Harry's always been a head or so taller than him -, and he beckons Louis to look at him. He does, and Harry kind of wishes he didn't because his _eyes_ , his beautiful, crystalline eyes that reminded him of the sea, are so vacant and expressionless that now, they only resemble an ocean of sorrows. "Darling, please tell me what's wrong. I need to know, in case there's anything I can do to help."

At that Louis laughs, but even then it's not a twinkling, sparkly giggle but rather a sarcastic, rough one. "There's nothing you can do about this."

"Please tell me what's wrong."

Louis' unreadable, now, and that scares Harry a bit. "While you're at war you still hear about things that happen up here, right?"

"That is correct." Harry's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Why, what's happened? Did I miss anything?"

"Did you hear about what happened with the Maenads?"

"Yeah," Harry's now even _more_ confused. He heard about that a day after he went to war. What does that have to do with anything? "Aphrodite messed around with them and they murdered someone. It's not exactly something uncommon with the Maenads; they're known to be bloodthirsty and indiscriminate."

"Did you hear who it was that was murdered this time?" There's a desperation in his voice this time, one grappled with grief. "Do you know who died?"

Harry shakes his head, his skin prickling. "No, no, I didn’t." He takes Louis' face in his hands and presses his forehead against his. "Was it someone you know? One of your friends? One of your writers?"

Louis' eyes widen and his bottom lip start to wobble. "No," Louis shakes his head and his voice gets lower and lower, "It wasn't any of them."

"Who was it, then? Can you tell me, darling?" Harry insists softly, wanting to understand why Louis' in that state. Gods and Goddesses don't experience grief like the mundanes do; their grief is short-lived and is easily overcome. Therefore, it's not surprising that Louis' not broken down by a murder that happened almost three weeks ago. However, it _is_ surprising that he's still hung up on it, even if just enough to be riddled with sadness. "Who did the Maenads kill?"

Louis looks up at the ceiling now, not wanting to look at Harry, and his voice shakes horribly as he utters the words, "They killed Orpheus."

It's like time stops. A bottle breaks. A volcano erupts. Harry's jaw clenches and he withdraws his hands from Louis' face to close them until his knuckles are white. His chest is heaving painfully; it feels heavier as his breathing is ragged and harsh. He stands up quick enough to give Louis whiplash, and the Muse can see Harry's fists shaking.

"Did Aphrodite do this out of revenge? For the Adonis decision?"

"Harry-"

" _Answer the question, Louis_."

His voice is harsh and commanding, and Louis can _feel_ that he's having a hard time controlling his ire. Harry feels his insides burning like lava, and he's close to losing it. A few seconds of silence pass, and moments later Louis squeaks out a soft, "Yes."

Harry inhales a sharp breath and punches the wall with his right hand, leaving a large hole in it. Louis jumps at the sudden aggression and looks at Harry cautiously. The God of War moves swiftly towards the balcony and breathes deeply again, only this time with a purpose. Once he pinpoints what he's searching for, he bares his teeth and shouts, "Louis, don't follow me."

"What-"

And with that, Harry jumps from the balcony in a fit of hot, white rage. He can hear Louis crying out behind him but doesn't focus on that; he only focuses on his anger, on his rage, on his _ire_. He's running quick on his feet, never ceasing, and he runs even when he can't feel his legs. He's headed towards Mount Lebanon. And he has a plan. His plan is murder.

Mid-run his limbs stretch out in a painful way, his insides twist around and he falls to the ground in agony. He bares it all, not even letting out a painful whimper as his bones break thrice and his neck twists achingly. He's shifting, he knows this, but no shift has ever been this painful.

The full transformation takes what feels like two seconds, and soon enough Harry's standing like a broad, strong wild boar. He's almost seven times bigger than any normal wild boar, his tusks are elongated like those of a mammoth, and his stance is powerful and domineering. His size is enough to make any other animal scour away in fear; if not, his hackles are intimidating to the point of having the biggest of bears and predators cower in terror. He stands still for a few moments, getting accustomed to his new skin, and then sprints off towards the top of Mount Lebanon, where he knows his prey is.

With his newfound speed, he reaches his destination in no time. He knows that Aphrodite must be in the area somewhere but, frankly, he doesn’t care much; in fact, it'd be even better if she's there while he devours her current fascination. He tilts his head, snout in the air as he smells his way to his prey. He's not that far away, he notices, and he knows that he'll kill him easily enough. Therefore, he hurries up and dashes through the heavily mudded area, his hooves leaving imprints on the ground. It's easy to notice his presence, really, yet it's not to case; there's no real way for him to be killed in this form by Adonis unless the man had a shotgun of some sort, which he shouldn't since he's out with Aphrodite and she disapproves of the practice.

He's getting nearer, Adonis is only a few meters away. His hackles are rising, intimidatingly, and he's baring his teeth and growling before even reaching the place where he is. The scent is getting strong, strong enough to give Harry a small headache, and his jaw is aching with the idealization of ripping apart his flesh. He sends a random deer flying away with his tusks - which is not a very good idea, knowing Artemis but _he doesn't care right now_ . All he wants is _blood, blood, blood_ . And, most of all, _vengeance_.

The scent is now absolutely intoxicating. He stops dashing for a moment and now approaches the area where Adonis must be slowly, predatorily, ready to circle his prey. As soon as he moves in, ready to sink his teeth already and attack, he has to take cautious strides back.

Adonis is there, brandishing a shotgun at him, aiming directly between his eyes.

Harry's astonished, to say the least. This wasn't in the original plan; hell, he didn't even account for the _possibility_ of him being armed. This entire situation is unexpected and, for once, Harry feels a trickle of fear settling in his stomach. There's terror in the heaving of his chest and the dawning realization of his very plausible death is striking.

Adonis doesn't say anything, he just stands there with the gun pointed, determined. Harry knows that the only way he'll have the upper hand in this situation is if he uses his tusks to throw him off-balance. Luckily, his tusks are long enough for him to be a good four or five feet away and still impact him greatly. However, even at the distance that they are now Adonis has a clean shot. He's going to get shot one way or another; he just has to manage to _not_ get a fatal shot in.

With this information, Harry does what he's never done before in the battlefield; he strategizes. In a few seconds, he analyzes every possible scenario in his head and his heckles rise to try and intimidate Adonis. Finally, once he's carefully planned out everything he must do, he charges with a loud, low growl and bared teeth.

Instead of dashing straightforwardly, which would undoubtedly receive him with a headshot, he skives off to the side. Adonis shoots twice; one of the bullets ricochets off his tusk but the other one hits him in the center of his upper arm, making him halt his movements with a yelp. The hit hurts horribly; Harry feels the hole burning, blood dripping from the wound, yet he doesn't stop. The reminder of the pain that Louis felt when Aphrodite ripped apart one of the beings he loved the most spurs him on to keep striking forward. At three feet away, while Adonis is reloading, Harry hits him in the chest with his husks and sends him spiraling against a tree.

Adonis cries out in agony. The tree, along with the blunt impact of the tusks, injure him greatly enough for him to remain immobile as Harry attacks his chest straight on. He buries his sharp teeth where the husks speared and teared, and he rips at the skin and flesh in small bites; slowly, arduously. Adonis is screaming for his _life_ underneath him, tears streaming down his beautiful face as Harry nips, bites, spears and tears. Adonis’ blood is smeared all over his snout and mouth but it isn’t disgusting, not when he’s in this state; right now, it’s pleasurable, it’s fulfilling, it’s _exhilarating_. He feels a rush inside he can’t control and he keeps on harshly tearing the skin, the cries of Adonis spurring him on.

Rather soon Harry’s bites become deeper and he’s ripping out chunks of skin, intestines and blood with his teeth. Adonis’ breath slows down underneath him, to the point that his screams are reduced to small whimpers of pain. Harry’s fit never falters, and he keeps on going until he removes every layer of skin and blood over Adonis’ heart. He breaks his rib cage with a snap of his jaw and pulls it apart with an animalistic growl. Adonis is no longer breathing, now, but Harry isn’t particularly attentive to that fact. Instead, he focuses on meticulously cutting the aortas linked to his heart with his teeth and then pulling the organ away from its cage. He growls loudly, victoriously, and is just about to bite into it when a heart-wrenching scream stops him.

He turns around and is met with a tear-ridden Aphrodite, fallen to her knees on the cold soil. She looks at him in utter defeat as he strides towards her in a slow, timely manner. Once he’s in front of her, she just looks up at him with terror in his eyes, afraid of what he will do to her. However, he just lowers his head until his mouth - and Adonis’ heart - is in front of her eyes. Then, he closes his jaw.

Aphrodite cries out at the harsh sound, she screams at the blood of her lover splattering across her face but most importantly, she cries at the loss of Adonis.

Harry shifts back to his human form, completely bare and naked. Normally, this would be a sign of vulnerability but not this time; no, this time, with the blood of his prey smeared over the lower half of his face and his chest, it’s a sign of irrevocable, intoxicating, invigorating and absolute _power_. His beautiful, domineering stance lurks over Aphrodite like an inescapable shadow and Harry can feel her trembling from the ground.

“Why did you do this?!” Aphrodite screams loudly, her voice hoarse at the end. Harry wants to laugh; he wants to fucking cackle at her defeated being, wants her to feel the same _pain_ and _misery_ she inflicted unto his Louis. However, he doesn’t laugh; he just crouches down and looks into her eyes. Then, with a sardonic smirk gracing his lips and a rough voice, he whispers, “You destroyed what was precious to _my_ Louis, so I destroyed what was precious to you.”

With that he stands up and leaves her behind, fully intending to walk away from the scene until he comes face-to-face with none other than his beautiful Calliope.

“Louis,” He breathes out and hears Aphrodite scurrying to her fallen lover, but pays it no mind.

“Harry?” Louis asks in a small voice, already knowing the answer to the question he’s going to ask. “What did you do?”

He shrugs and places his hand on Louis’ hips, giving him a half-kiss. “Avenging you,” He says calmly and pats his hip. “C’mon now, darling, let’s go back to my palace.”

“In a second,” Louis murmurs and disentangles himself from Harry’s side. He goes to where Aphrodite lays, turning the drops of blood of Adonis into windflowers, and crouches down cautiously. She looks at him sadly, a pout on her lips, wondering what he’s going to do to her now. However, Louis just places his hand over hers and kisses her cheek. “I’m sorry for your loss,” He whispers and stands up, ignoring the surprise in both Aphrodite’s and Ares’ expressions.

Then, he assesses Harry for wounds and finds the deep graze of the bullet wound and some scratches. He tenderly cups his cheek and kisses him softly. With his arm wrapped with Harry’s, he says, “Let’s go home, love.”

-

They're back at Ares' palace. He's sitting on his bed with Calliope on his lap, a long rag wrapped multiple times around the bullet wound. He did it as soon as they settled in and now he's cleaning the blood of Adonis off his lips and jaw with a moist rag.

They're silent for a while; Harry because he's worried that Louis is mad at him, Louis because he is simply at a loss for words. The silence isn't exactly unwelcome, though; it's peaceful in some way, like a calming breeze surrounding them, letting them reflect on today.

"Y'think Zayn's going to murder me?" Harry asks suddenly, his voice at a low register.

Louis stops wiping for a moment, surprised at the question, but continues soon after. "Why would you think he'd murder you?"

"'Cause I killed Adonis," Harry says.

"And?"

"Now he's going to be in the Underworld all the time," Harry explains, looking at the wall behind Louis. "So he'll be with Niall all the time."

"Oh," Louis comments softly and chuckles. "Think he'll be jealous at all the attention he will be hogging?"

"Might be," Harry laughs. "He's yelled at me for less."

Louis laughs at that and nods. "Then rest assure, your scolding will come."

Harry chuckles softly but ceases when Louis tenderly wipes his lips, careful not to tear off the tender skin. A silence settles upon them once again. This time, though, Harry can sense Louis wants to speak up but, for some reason is at a loss for words. So, he lets him collect his thoughts.

After a while, when he's done cleaning, he places the rag on the side of the bed and breathes deeply. "I - you. I don't - I mean," He starts out but is silenced by Harry kissing him softly.

"Don't be nervous, darling," He says. "Tell me what's on your mind."

"You did that," Louis murmurs in a bit of awe. "For me. You did that for a son of mine that wasn't even yours."

"That I did," Harry agrees and tries to look into his eyes, even though Louis refuses to meet his gaze. "And I would do it again."

"Why?"

Harry places his hands tenderly on his cheeks and sweetly kisses him. "Everything that is precious for you, is precious for me."

Louis's eyes moisten with tears and he gives Harry a wet kiss. "I saw it, y'know. Today."

"What'd you see?" Harry's eyebrows are furrowed in confusion.

"The connection between Harry and Ares."

"Yeah?" Harry smiles and presses his forehead against Louis's. "And?"

"You were right. The myths are not always correct," Louis pecks his lips and giggles. "You're not spilling blood because of the thrill - well, not _solely_ because of it. You always have a reason. Something to prove, something to protect."

"Make me mundane, why don't you," Harry laughs, "Y'know, maybe you're looking too much into it. After all, I am still the God of War. I am still a reckless god. I don’t need a reason to have a war."

"With me you do, though," Louis whispers, "With me you do."

"And there it is," Harry grins wonderfully. "There is the connection."

They stare into each other's eyes and kiss from time to time, their foreheads pressed together, their bodies molding against one another. It's a sweet moment until, "I want you to get me off right here and now."

Harry throws his head back in laughter. "You know, for a Muse that claims to be the God of Eloquence, that was not eloquent at _all_."

"Shut up," Louis blushes beautifully. He takes off his tunic and tosses it to the floor, the only thing on are everything that's gold. He kisses Harry again, only this time with much more fervor and heat. His hands are on Harry's neck as the God of War tilts his head. With Louis on his lap it's like he's towering Harry, so that makes the position of the kiss foreign but welcome nonetheless. Louis's lips are moving against Harry's with a sweet agility, it has Harry reeling back on the bed, taking off his clothes as quickly as he can.

Louis gets off of him and lies down, arms spread above his head.

"You're breathtaking," Harry whispers and crawls on top of Louis's welcoming body, pressing soft kisses from his chest to his neck.

"As are you, my love," Louis tangles his fingers into Harry's curls and brings his head upwards to press a kiss unto his lips. It's short-lived, but sweet enough to fuel Harry's arousal. Louis wraps his legs around Harry and the God of War can feel his erection against his stomach. He presses his own against Louis's and the Muse moans softly against his mouth.

"Like that?" Harry does it again and licks his lips at the flush that appears on Louis's neck.

" _Yes_ ," Louis moans out and thrusts his hips forward, anxiously trying to grind on Harry's cock. His hands press against Harry's chest and his fingers curl whenever he gets stimulated, scratching the skin underneath. It drives Harry insane, so he buries his head in the juncture of his neck and grunts every time he so much as grazes Louis.

Harry grabs the oil from the stand beside his bed and lathers a hefty amount on the palm of his hands. He grabs both of their cocks and lathers them up, moaning at the friction it creates. Louis mewls at the feeling and throws his head back, exposing the pristine column of his neck. Harry immediately latches his lips onto it and nips at the warm skin, thrusting against Louis's cock.

" _Fuck_ , Harry, keep doing that, _please_ ," Louis moans and thrusts his hips forwards to match Harry's rhythm, feeling a bit overwhelmed. "A-Ah, Harry, c-could you do it fas - _yes_!" Harry does it much faster, thrusting at an inhumane speed, grinding on top of Louis with his hands caging his small frame. They're both moaning and panting against one another, and when Harry bites into his skin hard enough to pierce it a little Louis jolts forward with a cry.

"Harry, you're killing me, _shit_ ," Louis pants and one of his hands cradle Harry's cheek, bringing his lips forward. He kisses him messily, tongue slipping in with ease and saliva trickling from the corners of their mouths. Harry mostly just pants against his mouth, sucking on his tongue whenever he can. Louis whines and murmurs, "I'm so _close_ , Haz, _do something_."

Harry pants "yeah, okay," and inserts the two fingers still coated with oil inside of Louis with one thrust. Louis mewls at that and rocks against his fingers, riding his fingers, almost.

"Yes, Haz, please, just - _ah_ ," Harry crooks his fingers and presses against Louis's prostate, his grinding never stopping, and it only takes three hard jabs to make Louis come with a cry, falling pliant on the bed.

Harry straightens up and moves upwards, till his knees are beside Louis's shoulders and his cock is right in front of Louis's face. "Lou, can you -?"

Louis doesn't need to be told again, and he sits up a little so that Harry's cock is right between his eyes. His hand reaches out to grip the oil-slick base and he jerks it in up and down movements with ease. "C'mon, Harry, come on me. Paint my face white."

With that last comment Harry's coming on Louis's face, _hard_. His come streaks Louis's eyelashes and fall inside his open mouth, on his tongue, and if Harry could get hard that quickly he would. It's such a pretty scene, Louis like this. Louis's now like a beautiful piece of art, lovely through and through.

"Gods, you're perfect," Harry breathes out and licks the come from his cheek, tasting himself before kissing Louis. He slips his tongue in so Louis can taste him again, and it's hotter than it should be. His hands go to Louis' hair and they tug on some strands hard, forcing Louis' head down and exposing his neck once more. Harry nips, bites and licks at the skin again, his other hand moving to Louis' chest so he can trace his nipples.

"Harry, you're going to make me hard again, stop," Louis giggles but his voice is thick with arousal.

"Round two?" Harry questions but before Louis can answer their world is literally flipped upside down, and they're both screaming. There are golden rods holding up the silver net that's enveloping them, but it's been carefully manufactured. There seems to be a plate below their feet that permits them to be standing up, but the sides cling to their bodies like silk, only harsher. The more they struggle, the more the golden robs compress and the pressure around them tightens unpleasantly. Louis is breathing in a panicked manner, his eyes wide and startled, but Harry's only getting angrier by the second.  There's only one god capable of manufacturing something akin to this.

" _Hephaestus_ ," Ares spits the name and the god emerges from the shadows, a smirk twitching on his lips.

"This net worked better than I imagined it would," He walks around it, gliding his fingers over the material. He stands behind Calliope and sardonically says, "Nice arse y'got there, Muse!"

Harry growls and the realization dawns on both of them; they're fucking _naked_ , completely exposed and vulnerable to anyone who walks in. Calliope's ears redden and he hangs his head low in embarrassment. That makes Ares summon his half-spear and try to pierce the coarse material of the net, but to no avail.

"Ares, you know me," Hephaestus is standing in front of him right now. "Do you really think I'd be so naïve as to not expect you to try and break it?"

Ares growls menacingly and tries again, again and again. Till his arms are hurting. Till his hand is bleeding from gripping it so tightly. He only stops when Louis places a soft, tentative hand on his shoulder.

"Haz," his eyes are droopy, misty, and they look _so_ defeated Harry wants to murder someone. Louis lifts his chin to gesture at something behind him. "Look."

The hallway connecting to his room is filled with clouds and mist, yet there's something beaming from the background. The smell of sea and ocean wafts around in the air, and there's a sound of wings flapping that makes Harry feel a little bit sick. Not long after, the mist clears out and they both can clearly see the gods that are walking towards them; Zeus, Apollo, Hermes and Poseidon.

"Well, I'd say this is surprising but you've always had a reckless streak with you, Ares." Zeus states and looks at both of them up and down, his eyes fixating on Louis. "Why is it that you break the only rule we've established? And it's even a temporary rule."

"I'm going to be real honest here, Zeus," Hermes interrupts, a smirk on his lips and lust in his eyes while they rake over Louis's naked body. Harry lets out an animalistic growl, his body covering as much as he can of Louis's. "Even _I_ would break rules to sleep with that beauty." He takes his time to lick his lips and wink at Calliope, who just stares, dumbfounded. "Hey, baby. I'm Hermes, but you can call me Nick."

Louis smiles sweetly at him, enough to draw him in so he's close enough for him to spit on his face. Hermes' not even bothered, though; the spit lands on his cheek, so he cleans it off with his thumb and the presses the digit inside his mouth. "Technically, we just kissed, beautiful."

Calliope shudders as Ares starts attacking the net again, this time out of desperation. He really needs to get out before someone else decides to -

"I can't believe you got to be with him," Hermes murmurs to Apollo. "And have a _child_ , for gods' sakes."

Apollo laughs, smiling predatorily and, for a moment, Calliope wonders what he ever say in him. "And that was with Calliope as a goddess," He licks and bites his lower lip, "Though I wouldn't mind trying to knock him up like this, believe me. And our first child was a disgrace, so it'd be best to have another that follows more after me than him." Hermes laughs sardonically.

There's a harsh banging on the net, but this time it's Calliope, who is clearly close to having a break down. "Don't you _dare_ talk badly about our fallen Orpheus! Don't you dare, don't you dare, _don't you dare_!" He's repeatedly punching the net, his head lowered and hair falling. He's a heartbreakingly beautiful picture, and though Harry's seen Louis cry a few times this is the first time he doesn't know how to fix it.

But Apollo keeps going, spewing foul stories and ill words about Orpheus, and Harry can feel how each and every single one of them pierces solidly through Louis's heart. Harry starts yelling threats and insults, tries to overpower Apollo with his voice, but when Hephaestus and Hermes join in with Apollo and laugh at his remarks there's not much he can do. With a broken sob, Calliope falls to his knees and curls into a protective ball and, _fuck_ , it hurts Harry that he can't so much as envelop him in a warm hug and pretend to shield him from the evils of the world.

"Look at 'im, Apollo! He's already on his knees!"

"I will fucking murder _all_ of you once I get out!" Ares' voice booms throughout the entire space, and the three mocking gods are chilled to the bone. Ares may be reckless and at times moronic in battle, but if there's one thing he's good at is spilling blood. And the myths tell it all; he doesn't _need_ a reason to spill blood but when he _does_ , there is no escaping him.

There's a silence in the atmosphere, broken only by Louis's almost quiet whimpers. Zeus is about to speak up, probably not intimidated or afraid of Ares, but he's silenced by Poseidon.

"Zeus, would you mind letting them go?"

Zeus looks at him incredulously, not understanding why the God of the Sea has come to that conclusion. "Why would I do that?"

"They've already been humiliated and hurt," Poseidon's looking directly at Calliope when he says that but Ares isn't quite bothered; he's standing up for them, and that's what matters. "Isn't that what you wanted? What do you get by keeping them there?"

"Pleasure in seeing them suffer," Zeus replies with a disgusting smirk. "Try again."

Poseidon _knows_ he's not going to let them out unless something unexpected happens, so. "Let them go; I promise that they shall pay in full such rightful penalty as you ask for."

At that offer, Zeus arches his eyebrow. "Oh, really? How are you going to ensure that?"

"He can't, but I can," Ares speaks up, and Calliope looks up to see him, worried about what he's going to say. "In fact, I'll promise you something better."

"Better than making you both pay your penalty? How so?"

"I will pay for both mine and Calliope's penalty, if you let us go."

"Ares, no!" Calliope screams and tugs at his hand from the floor, shaking his head and willing him to look at him. "I can't let you do that!" He stands up, desperately, and starts yelling _, pleading_ at Zeus. “Let me pay for both of us!"

Harry glances at him and shakes his head once, roughly. "You weren't the one to break the rules; that was me," He looks towards Zeus again, entirely stoic. "I promise to uphold whatever punishment and penalty you have for Calliope and I to its entirety, if you let us go."

Zeus stares at him interestedly while Calliope keeps murmuring "no, no, no." He finally concedes and nods at Hephaestus, who releases them from the net. They both fall to the floor and Harry's quick enough to pick Louis up and hold him in his arms, rocking and consoling the beautiful Muse, who's crying and punching his chest in disdain.

"Why, why, _why_ did you promise that, Harry?" Louis's voice breaks halfway through. "Knowing Zeus, I will still get punished in some way!"

"Yes, but I will receive the brunt of it," Harry kisses his hair soothingly and picks up Louis' tunic from the floor, nearby him. He helps him get dressed and then dresses himself up; then, he stands up and Louis is latched onto his side at all times, slowly calming down.

"You promised you wouldn't do anything," Louis whispers softly, regaining his senses and trying to compose himself. "You promised that if Zeus caught us, you wouldn't do anything."

"I also promised that I was going to make sure you wouldn't be faced with any kind of humiliation like in the Underworld ever again," Harry tilts his head and presses a kiss to the side of his lips. "And I broke that promise. This is my way of apologizing for that."

"Yeah, but -" They're interrupted by the feeling of eyes on them. Hephaestus, Apollo and Hermes left as soon as the net was released, not wanting to die that day, but Poseidon is still there, looking at them.

With a squeeze to his upper arm, Louis greets,"Hey, Liam." He straightens his back and walks to him, more composed than before yet there's still a sadness enveloping him. When he reaches him, he gives him a hug that looks very familiar, as if it's been done countless times before. Harry wonders, now, exactly how much of Louis' past has Liam in it. He's never wanted to know, knowing he'll get unbearably jealous for no reason whatsoever and Liam is actually his friend; however, now he really wonders…

"Hey, Dove," Liam murmurs against his neck and separates. Louis cradles his face with his palms and Liam places his own hands over them. Louis asks, "Why'd you stick your neck out for us?"

"Harry's a good friend of mine," Liam's looking into Louis' eyes the whole time, and Harry has to glance away from the scene or he's sure he'll start doubting himself. "And I still love you."

There's a silence there, and Harry freezes in his spot. He's not sure, doesn't have the slightest clue as to how Louis' going to react. Suddenly, he's taken over by an impending fear of losing Louis. He _can't_ lose him, he just can't; it's gotten to the point where Louis is a part of him now, and he's sure that he can feel Louis' heart inside of his own. If Louis were to leave him, he's sure he'd die. So now, bristled with fear, he does look at them, and sees how Louis is stroking small strands of Liam's hair behind his ear. His lips part and, at first, nothing comes out, but then, "I know."

He kisses Liam, then, but it's a chaste, sweet kiss. A kiss full of gratitude and thankfulness. And although Liam looks like he wants to hold onto Louis' hips and never let him go, he does, his eyes soft and fond as they watch Louis latch onto Harry's side, tucking himself under his arm. Harry kisses his head softly, murmuring, "It’s okay" while Liam disappears as well.

"I hate to break such a, uh, touching scene," Zeus' voice makes Calliope jump but Harry holds his waist tightly. "However, it's time for you to uphold your promise."

Ares nods and steps forward, Calliope in tow. Zeus looks at them strangely but continues, "For breaking the temporary rule of 'No Copulating with Lesser Gods or Goddesses Outside Of the Pantheon', your fate shall be cast out by the one and only, Hades."

He disappears into smoke and mist, and Harry's mouth is open in shock. Louis runs his hands soothingly down Harry's arms but he's shaking, too, because although Zayn is his friend they all know what being sent to the Underworld for a punishment means.

Zeus has set the penalty, Hades maximizes it automatically, and it will change his existence in an irreversible way. 

++

The atmosphere is gloomy, thick and unbearable for the most part. There's a perpetual stench of rot that encompasses the area, making it hard to breathe, but that isn't important, not at the moment. On the right there's the beautiful, foresting image of the Elysian Fields; bright, floundering, and beautiful - much like Calliope, - probably tended by Persephone. On the left, though, there's the Acheron river and, of course, Tartarus. The stairway there impedes visitors from actually seeing what's going on, but he's gone there enough to know what he might find; bodies walking around headless, discord apple trees sprouting nauseatingly from the spoilt ground, souls reliving their deaths over and over again. If he's lucky, he might have seen Tantalus, maybe even Sisyphus there carrying boulders or drowning in what's more than likely a hybrid between quicksand and mud.

As he crosses the spoilt, deceased land he can see the bones and souls staring at him, and most of them are there because of him. It's a strange feeling, because he doesn't experience guilt or remorse. In fact, he's quite proud to see them there. However, his pride is matched with his astonishment because _there are so many, and it's mostly because of him_. Eventually, they all shouting and running up and down with the news of his arrival; that is, including the judges.

"What are you doing here?" Aeacus questions, getting down from his chair quickly and meeting up with his relentless feet. He looks at him carefully and sees the writing tablet in his hand. "Calliope? What's Calliope doing here?"

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding the Asphodel Meadow?" The writing tablet falls off his hands and transforms into the beautiful Calliope, who fearfully laces his arm around his own all the while Aeacus just looks. "And I'm here to see what punishment falls on him."

"Don't worry about the Asphodel Meadow, I put Rhadamanthus in charge while Thanatos looks over Tartarus." During their journey, they never stop walking straight ahead, regardless of what's in front of them; they step on some souls that were on their way to the Elysian Fields and almost crash into Cerberus. "This is getting ridiculous!" Aeacus exclaims and puts his hand on Harry's shoulders, trying to push him back but ends up being pushed forward himself. "Please, stop walking for a moment and explain what the fuck is going on!"

"I can't stop," He mutters angrily. "I've been sent here on direct orders from Simon, I literally cannot stop."

"Zeus?" Aeacus looked around, careful not to let anyone hear. "Why, what happened?"

"I-"

"Well, well, well, look what the tide washed in," Hades' booming voice deters all motion from the Underworld. The three of them stop instantly and look up in reverence. Hades is standing on top of a rudimentary, destroyed, decayed building constituted mostly by bones, skulls and remains. Next to him is Persephone, smiling softly at them while he rests his head on Hades' chest.

"I don't know who else you're expecting, but I wasn't dragged in by Poseidon."

"You most certainly weren't," Hades chuckles and jumps down, walking towards him almost predatorily. It makes Calliope hide behind him, not wanting to see the God of the Underworld in these terms. "No, you were brought by the big daddy upstairs this time, hm?"

"C'mon, Zayn, let's not beat around the bush," He exclaims and looks at Hades in the eye. "Just give me whatever feeble punishment Zeus told you to give me."

"Have you not noticed how much Simon loves to compromise other gods' lives to fit his personal agenda?" Persephone chuckles and approaches them as well. He flicks his wrist to order Aeacus to leave and extends his arm towards the couple. "Remember me? I was ordered by Zeus to stay here because this idiot here was feeling lonely. Trust me, it won't be feeble."

"But y-you ended up happy, right?" Calliope questions and all three of them look at him. "You're… satisfied?"

Niall looks up at Zayn, who smiles at him, and nods. "Yeah, I am," Niall then shifts his gaze to Louis, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "You, though, you most likely won't be."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Harry growls and hides Louis behind him, protective.

"Look, man, I'm sorry," Zayn actually does look apologetic, but that doesn't help their case at all, "I'm just following orders.

"What do you-?"

"For your sins and treason you, Slayer, are punished to drink from the river that flows around the cave of Hypnos and through the Underworld, by her hand," At that, a beautiful green-skinned woman emerges and, fuck, they both knew what that means. He takes in a shallow breath while Calliope chokes a sob, his knees giving out as he falls to the dead, moist floor.

"And, since this is a punishment for both of you and not only The Slayer," Zayn licks his lips and looks at Louis sadly. "Your story will be rewritten. The fables and the myths of the mortals will no longer be of your story with Calliope, but instead of your story with… Aphrodite."

" _Aphrodite_ ?!" He yells as Louis falls completely forward, the side of his face planted on the dirt while he's bawling like mad at the pain, the anguish, the _humiliation_. "I have nothing with Aphrodite!"

"We know," Persephone says softly. "But you will now. At least in the written word."

"What the actual fuck, Zayn?!" He bellows as the green-skinned woman approaches him. "When King Sisyphus held you captive I was the one who went to your aid! I was the one who rescued the great Hades! And you're casting out a punishment as cruel as this?!"

"I- I can't do anything about it," Zayn responds. "I'm sorry."

The green-skinned woman is right next to him, now, and cupped in her hands is murky water from the river. "Drink," her raspy voice commands. Instead, he turns around and falls to the floor alongside Calliope. He brings his tear-stricken face to his own and quiets his cries, casting away his tears with his thumbs. "Love, don't cry."

"You won't remember us," Calliope exclaims, his voice broken, "You won't remember me."

"But you will," he murmurs. "You will remember us, and you will remember me."

"What does that matter?" Louis dry-heaves but he responds by taking away the dirt that remained on the side of his face.

"It matters because you'll make me remember."

"How?"

"Somehow, you'll find a way," The green-skinned woman forces him upon his feet and he makes Louis stand up with him. He then kisses Calliope sweetly, gently, pouring his feelings into the gesture while Calliope cries. "Your kiss is unmissable. Impossible to forget, impossible to resist. Always in my heart," One last kiss, and he murmurs against his lips, "remember me."

With those words, Harry turns around and, taking a deep breath, he concedes. The green-skinned woman pours the water in her hands into his mouth, down his throat, and all he could feel was immeasurable pain. His body was burning, his insides were twisting and crushing, and he could no longer breathe. His screams are drowned by Louis's, and he falls forward, his body seizing up in pain and anguish. He can feel soft, familiar hands cradling his head sweetly, bruising kisses pressed against his face, but it isn't long before he loses all feeling. The hands on him are strange, now, and the final image he sees before he closes his eyes forever is a sea of blue; crystalline blue, sea storm blue, drowning blue that he can no longer recognize. He's numb, he's void, and he is a shell of a god.

Their first encounter was worthy of a myth.

Their last one will be long forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it!! feel free to message me @ my Tumblr, [alwaysinmyheartsincerely](alwaysinmyheartsincerely.tumblr.com/message)
> 
> please comment on your thoughts!! i'd love to hear what you have to say ♥


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